Slavery

Despite the apparent sophistication of many of the more powerful states, slavery is a fairly common institution throughout the Universe. It was most pervasive during the Heroic Age when the Universe was under the control of Gods, but since the Cataclysm attempts have been made by many greater powers to curb the institution and in some cases abolish it.

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The Gods regarded themselves as above literally every other living being and did not hesitate to act that way. From their standpoint, all other life in the Universe was there to serve them in some capacity, and many races owe their very existence to the Gods creating them for this very purpose. While the Holy Order which administrated their empire was commanded by the Gnomes and Ogres, there was also a substantial number of slaves who handled the minutae of the Gods empire, from operating the craft and equipment used by the Drow descendants to living on the Gods' respective planets and serving them in their palaces. The Gods were not picky about who was made to serve them as dozens of races like humans, elves, purrans, etc lived on Ultima and other places claimed by the Holy Order.

The whole of Ogre society is possible because of the population of elves it keeps enslaved. The elves are used for all the dirty work in the upkeep of Ogre civilization, providing a cheap labor force. The elves themselves have been conditioned since infancy to find nothing untowards about their status and not desire for anything more.

At birth, an infant is examined to determine its strength and potential power. Those who pass the requirements are permitted to be raised as warriors, while a crueler fate befalls those who do not. For male infants, they are sent into the wilderness to die of exposure (on ancient Kazan this meant being quite literally left out to die, but in modern times the practice entails sending the rejected infant to another planet where he will disrupt the local populace and leave it open for late conquering). For female infants they were raised to be slaves, the work force on whose backs all non-military aspects of saran culture rest.

In the post-Crash era of the sarans, they learned much in the ways of slaves from other races. The elves especially taught saran slave masters a great deal in the way of slave education and specialization. Saran Slaves can be noted by their red metal collars and slave brands on their left buttocks. The brand design varies depending on what task the slave was trained to perform, while the collar identifies their owner. The collars are also inscribed with binding runes that suppress the slave girl's Aura (so she won't be unduly dangerous to her owner) as well as a marker so only their Master or someone stronger can remove their collar. Nearly all slaves will wear a red tunic which has the symbol for their trained job embroidered on the left breast, under which they will wear a red thong. Depending on their job they may wear other outfits (for instance Medic Slaves have a special tunic, boots and gloves while slave girls are occasionally not even permitted the tunic.

Scribe slaves are prized for their high intelligence and ability to understand patterns and come up with proper responses. Scribes are often permitted simple tunics with pockets which carry writing implements.

Medical slaves are taught to administer to the physical well being of the members of the saran army. They possess an encyclopedic knowledge of not only saran physiology, but also that of many other races which they are taught to recall completely from memory. They have access to the most advanced medical technology. Conditioning prevents them from doing any harm to patients. Medic Slaves wear brief double breasted dresses with high red socks. John Nash notes that they look like red nurse's uniforms.

Pleasure Slaves are trained for all manners of comfort and entertainment. They are skilled in all manners of dance and music, as well as games, riddles, puzzles, etc. Their primary use though is in the bed, and for this they have been trained in all manners of administering pleasure through massage and lovemaking. To encourage them to use these skills, they are conditioned to have hyper active libidos. A love slave who does not engage in her craft becomes increasingly erratic to the point of mania, something which was often used to force slave girls to do things they might otherwise be hesitant to engage in. Because of their use, pleasure slaves are occasionally the victims of the cruelest whims of sarans, being forced to indulge in the most perverse practices for the amusement of their masters.

Pleasure Slaves are often completely naked with the exception of their red thongs, though it's not uncommon to see them in some kind of alluring top with gold jewelry.

Like most races in the modern universe, the saran diet is composed mainly of synthesized food and drink. Despite this, there still is a segment of saran slaves trained for the tending of crops and raising of animals.

Among the Elven Kingdoms slavery is largely outlawed, but in some it is still legal. The Ogre State is completely built on the back of a slave population of elves who they use for everything from labor to food.

While slavery itself is illegal within the Purran Kingdom, Purrans themselves are popular targets of slavers who generally capture them as children when they are easier to train. The Outlaw Jaxx Barro, a Purran herself, was so angered when she discovered she'd been tricked into transporting a shipment of Purran Slaves that she betrayed her benefactor Duke Valentine by freeing them and absconding with his ship.